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Post by Cranky on Dec 23, 2008 16:39:17 GMT -5
Thirty, fourty years ago, my father use to go to a butcher shop and he would buy a side of beef, pay for it and THEN the butcher would cut it up for him. When my parents went back to the old country, we resorted to watching for sales at the local supermarket.
Well, time for change I can believe in.....
For the first time in my life, I bought a side of beef, brought it home and hours later, VOILA, steaks, roasts, ground beef, serloins, etc. I even had a chart to make sure I wasn't screwing up the cuts. More meat then I have ever seen in my life! I am not going to say it was fun, far from it, but it was interesting. My wife even made a chart and labels. Depression? Bring it on! Now that I added butchering to my skill set, NO road kill is safe!
Has anybody tried it?
P.S. Does anyone have PETA address? I want to send them the fat and bones.
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Post by franko on Dec 23, 2008 18:04:57 GMT -5
yup . . . before I went back to school and took up my current profession, I worked on a kill floor [actually, 4 different ones over time: beef, pork, and chicken] . . . my extended family wondered how I could eat meat after that [I just knew what not to eat]; my father in law was a butcher by trade so slogging a side of beef was no problem.
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Post by clear observer on Dec 24, 2008 7:52:36 GMT -5
Thirty, fourty years ago, my father use to go to a butcher shop and he would buy a side of beef, pay for it and THEN the butcher would cut it up for him. When my parents went back to the old country, we resorted to watching for sales at the local supermarket. Well, time for change I can believe in..... For the first time in my life, I bought a side of beef, brought it home and hours later, VOILA, steaks, roasts, ground beef, serloins, etc. I even had a chart to make sure I wasn't screwing up the cuts. More meat then I have ever seen in my life! I am not going to say it was fun, far from it, but it was interesting. My wife even made a chart and labels. Depression? Bring it on! Now that I added butchering to my skill set, NO road kill is safe! Has anybody tried it? P.S. Does anyone have PETA address? I want to send them the fat and bones. Don't get me started on the "pet lamb" we used to have as youngsters until, you know.... ...Easter!  |
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Post by Skilly on Dec 24, 2008 8:44:40 GMT -5
When I worked at Mary Brown's we were trained in how to cut chickens .....
.... Now quartering moose and caribou, thats a thing of beauty that I dont think I will ever get the stomach for. But hmmmmmm delicious after it comes back from the butcher!!
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Post by jkr on Dec 24, 2008 8:44:45 GMT -5
Don't send the fat away - you could probably use the it to make soap.  BTW - am I the only vegetarian ( not vegan) on this board?  |
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Post by CrocRob on Dec 24, 2008 8:52:34 GMT -5
I'm good at picking the cow from the barn. Not so much at cutting it up. We all have our roles in life. I guess I'm the fancy boy!  |
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Post by Disgruntled70sHab on Dec 24, 2008 13:31:11 GMT -5
Never had to butcher my own. Years back, Mrs Dis and I bought a side of beef. It came pre-cut, packaged and frozen. Seemed like we were eating beef forever.
Used to get our eggs and chickens from some folks in the country as well. Neither are graded, granted, but you can certainly tasted the difference between those and mass-produced, steroid-fed poultry and store-bought eggs.
Skilly, we have a Mary Brown's here in Kingston and it's probably the best chicken in town without a doubt. The owner is from Newfoundland and a great guy.
We go there every few months or so. Blows away any other kind of fast food in the area.
Cheers.
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Post by cigarviper on Dec 24, 2008 13:45:12 GMT -5
Never had to butcher my own. Years back, Mrs Dis and I bought a side of beef. It came pre-cut, packaged and frozen. Seemed like we were eating beef forever. Used to get our eggs and chickens from some folks in the country as well. Neither are graded, granted, but you can certainly tasted the difference between those and mass-produced, steroid-fed poultry and store-bought eggs. Skilly, we have a Mary Brown's here in Kingston and it's probably the best chicken in town without a doubt. The owner is from Newfoundland and a great guy. We go there every few months or so. Blows away any other kind of fast food in the area. Cheers. He sold that franchise a couple years ago I thought. Anyway, we buy a half side of beef every year from a friend. All organic, no steroids, preservatives, antibiotics, etc. There is noticeable flavour difference the first couple times we ate it, but now we can't tell the difference. The best pork I ever had came straight from a friend's pig farm. No, his name was not Robert. |
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Post by Doc Holliday on Jan 4, 2009 10:55:55 GMT -5
I do a lot of culinary stuff but a side of beef weighs what? Roughly 400 lbs... Getting the cuts out is almost an art... And without some serious equipment it's quite an adventure... A friend of mine changed part of his garage into a refregirated slaughter house, he's a hunter and uses this space to age meat and then butcher. Caribous, Deers, Moose, the whole nine yard. He even rents it to other hunters. Still though, he gets a pro butcher at his house when it's time for the show. Don't want to undermine HA's advice, but going through a side of beef is hard, precise work and you can end up losing a lot on that 500+$ you'll spend. I do agree with him though that we need to stretch our dollars and it often starts in our own kitchen. Know what you're eating and take cotrol. There are, however, other options to a complete unbutcherd side of beef You can actually buy a side of beef in bulk, butchered but the savings are not extraordinary IMO. Not bad, but you sill need amazing freezing space available and depending on the size of your family and apetite, you'll probably end up eventually eating stuff that has been frozen for too long. Remember that freezing deteriorates meat with time. I do like however to buy smaller cuts, like complete filet or complete sirloin or ribeye roasts which you can turn turn into steaks. They are easy to manage, to store and the savings are quite interesting as your get good at using every meat molecule that you buy. Ground beef, don't bother making your own, unless you wanna do steak tartare, buy it cheap and make sure you you don't buy too lean 'cause the only thing that flavors the meat in ground meat is fat. Go for 80-20. P.S. Does anyone have PETA address? I wish I had it... She's really hot...  |
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Post by Cranky on Jan 4, 2009 17:36:17 GMT -5
Don't want to undermine HA's advice, but going through a side of beef is hard, precise work and you can end up losing a lot on that 500+$ you'll spend. I do agree with him though that we need to stretch our dollars and it often starts in our own kitchen. Know what you're eating and take cotrol. There are, however, other options to a complete unbutcherd side of beef You can actually buy a side of beef in bulk, butchered but the savings are not extraordinary IMO. Not bad, but you sill need amazing freezing space available and depending on the size of your family and apetite, you'll probably end up eventually eating stuff that has been frozen for too long. Remember that freezing deteriorates meat with time. It IS hard work and DANGEROUS. I am not likely to do it again unless I really have too, or at the very least, get some good steel mesh gloves. One of the most important things to have is a band saw (and I have a 24") but there was no way I could convince myself it would meet my cleanliness requirements. Besides, we tend to eat steaks and ribeyes which is only a small part of the overall package. One thing I am going to do is buy rib roasts on special. They are about two bucks cheaper per pound and can easily be converted to rib steaks. As for space, we used up a large freezers, a large home fridge and the plant fridge. THAT is a lot of meat for two people. As for the savings, not huge considering that we need to eat stuff we usually don't bother with. It was more of a "I can do it if I want to" challenge. |
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Post by cigarviper on Jan 4, 2009 21:42:57 GMT -5
As fine a tenderloin filet as I've ever seen. Who's your butcher? |
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